The present invention relates in general to outdoor cooking units, and more particularly to an outdoor cooking unit with an improved fire grate.
Heretofore, outdoor cooking units included fire grates on which briquettes were disposed. Such fire grates were formed with parallel rods or cylindrical aligned slots over which briquettes were disposed. The fire grates heretofore used in the outdoor cooking units accommodated the generally flat bottom of the briquettes. Generally, the briquettes were placed on the fire grates in a random fashion. As a consequence thereof, the heat generated by such briquettes never reached the optimum temperature expeditiously.
Cooking units made of stainless steel have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,508,094, issued to Paul W. Hait on Apr. 2, 1985, for Convertible Cooking Unit and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,531,505, issued to Paul W. Hait et al. on July 30, 1985, for Convertible Cooking Unit With An Oven. The stainless steel walls reflect the heat generated by briquettes for improved fuel efficiency.